The Rebels Who Still Age
Humanity has achieved immortality through advanced genetic modifications, but at the cost of being able to reproduce naturally. As society struggles with the moral implications, a small group of rebels who age and die naturally might hold the key to the survival of human emotions and culture.
Suggested length: A short story: 1,500 to 5,000 words, or flash fiction under 1,000
Start the clock
Pick a sprint, press start and keep going until it stops. Momentum beats polish on a first draft.
Make it yours
Three ways to take this prompt somewhere nobody else will.
- Start in the middle of the strangest moment, and explain nothing for a page.
- Write it as a document from the world: a letter, a field report, a warning sign.
- Make the magic or technology cost your hero something they can't get back.
Writing science fiction
Change one thing about the world. Follow it all the way.
Science fiction asks what happens to people when science, technology or contact with something new changes the rules. The spaceships are optional; the question is the point. The best of it says as much about today as it does about the future.
What readers expect
- An idea that drives the plot
- Technology or science with consequences
- Futures, other worlds or alternate presents
- Big questions about being human
A tip before you start
Show how your big change reshapes ordinary life: what people eat, fear and joke about. Scenery alone isn't world-building.
More High-Tech Sci-Fi prompts
- The Weather-Shifting MachineA scientist invents a device that can alter the weather, but every change comes with unpredictable side effects impacting personal relationships.…
- The Computer Wants to DieOn a distant planet, humanity has finally created the first sentient supercomputer. However, the computer's first request is to be shut down. Write…
- The Unclaimed MemoryIn a world where memories can be transferred as easily as files, a young technician discovers a memory that doesn't belong to any known individual. As…
- Lives in Parallel UniversesThe first successful time machine has been built, but instead of traveling through time, it transports people into parallel universes. Write about a…
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